Bio My name is Will Marbury. I am a High School Math teacher at the Friends School of Baltimore. I am married and have a 3 year-old son (Charlie) who loves baseball, Toy Story, Spiderman, and Cars. I was born and raised in Baltimore. I graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a Bachelor's in Spanish Language and Literature. Shortly thereafter, I was hired as a math teacher at Sandy Spring Friends School, where I taught PreCalculus, Algebra 2, AP Statistics, and Multivariable Calculus for six years. My wife and I left Sandy Spring Friends School to join the Peace Corps, where we were Schools and Community Resource Volunteers. Upon returning, I worked at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School near Patterson Park before moving to Friends. I will be teaching Geometry and PreCalculus, as well as coach JV Baseball and help run the Math Club, creating opportunities to explore mathematics outside of our classrooms.
Learning Task #1 (submitted through email)
Learning Task #2 Web 2.0 - an upgrade in how websites were designed in order to allow more interaction and collaboration between web users for projects or learning. Wikis are a prime example of a Web 2.0 tool, as multiple users can add or edit them. Instead of simply using a website for information, similar to a book, websites use new technologies to allow web users to connect with one another in more ways than before. Today's Meet:https://todaysmeet.com/CollagorativeMathTools
Learning Task #4 Top Ten Virtual Manipulatives (not written by Jamiroquai) #10 Pick-A-Path - Working with number values
#9 Venn Diagrams - time to learn what the "u" and "n" mean in set notation.
#8 Plop-It - Aside from the name - lets you learn about resistant v. nonresistant measures of center.
#7 Pascal's Triangle - Finding patterns and Sierpinski's Triangle #6 Quadratic Transformer - Not Michael Bay, but a great starter applet for transformations of functions - and with three different forms!
#5 Piecewise Grapher - awesome, even though it's only lines. Perfect for my Piece-wise functions and Domain?range unit in Algebra 2.
#4 Glencoe Virtual Manipulatives the GeoBoard is awesome and you can overlap multiple manipulatives to help with more complex concepts. #3 Wheely 3 - Fun game to build problem solving skills.Math.Practice.MP1
#2 Congruence Theorems - Test the triangular Congruence theorems. Do they all work?
#1 Tangrams - Memories - I loved Tangrams, and I love the differentiation created with the virtual version.
In the second quarter of my PreCalculus class, I have a data analysis project connected with the 12 basic functions. Students need to find/collect data and create a scatterplot of data. They need to describe the data using mathematical language, then try to find the best function to model the data. Finally, they need to reflect on their expectations and findings from the project. We have used the program Fathom, which is not so user friendly. The students complain about the program constantly and I have to trouble shoot all the time. I am still looking for another program that has the same functionality but is more user-friendly. Popplet: Finding real zeros of polynomial functionshttp://popplet.com/app/#/1465949
Learning Task #7 Rich Tasks: 100-Meter Dash #1: Question posed to the class: "Which performance is the most impressive? Back up your decision mathematically." I would like to see how students answer this. It could be used as a question of proportion or of percentage increase. I would also like to involve the history or cultural studies department with this task. 100-Meter Dash #2: Question posed to the class: "What is the projection 100-Meter Dash of the United States in 2016? How about in 2020?" I would have the students research the top US finishers All three videos: "After watching all three videos, which event's winning times has been more consistent? Back up your answer mathematically." I hope that students would research the winning times and plot them. They could answer this using statistics or calculus. Breaking the Bracket Watch the video and have the students pick a "method" for picking the winners of the NCAA basketball bracket. At the end, calculate their winning percentage and compare themselves to other million who have done it. What is their ranking and their percentile? Polluting Noise "How long during a year do you hear an annoying noise?" Have the students choose a noise or sound that they hear on a regular basis and have them calculate how much they hear it in a year. Top 10's "Find a Top 10 list that you find interesting. Then create your own using something from class."
Khan Academy: Statistics: The Average Pros: I like the way that he talks about the three different measures of central tendency (also that he uses "Central Tendency"), that he gives real life applications, and begins to talk about resistant measures and outliers. Cons: I don't like that he brings up so many different ideas and touches upon a lot of things, but does not describe them thoroughly. While I like that he talks a little about outliers, but then glosses over it and says that there is no real way to determine an outlier. That's trouble in the future.
In general with statistics, I have found that the terminology that he uses to be different from the terminology that I learned and use in my classroom. This usually causes obvious problems.
LearnZillion: My first impression is that I like how the site is organized by the Common Core Standards. While it makes it more difficult for an independent school teacher to navigate, I think that this is great. Solving Equations Pros: I like that she brings up the objective at the beginning and end, that she talks about the common mistake. Cons: I feel that this is very simplistic and I would like for her to define a solution set, and I don't know why she doesn't simply solve for x in both equations and show that they have the same solution set. Lastly, I would like for her to show how two equations may seem to have the same solutions, but one be extraneous (may be too advanced) Working Backwards to Solve an Equation Pros: I like that he equate "inverse" with "undo". I also like the common misuderstanding, which I like to call "Crazy Canceling" (I need to stop using that terminology). I like that he talks about the translation of mathematics into words (Math is simply a language). I like that he creates a problem. Cons: I dislike his voice (I know it's shallow). Why does he distribute the coefficient and add the 4. It seems to make more sense to add 4, then divide by 3. It seems that he is taking the long way around. (Nevermind...I was still watching the video.) As I am watching more videos, I am getting more irritated by the restatement of the objective at the beginning and end. This may simply be an independent school bias. Circle Similarity Pros: Very step-by-step Cons: Slow. I don't see the last step - that one similar triangle shows that the circles are similar.
PollEveryWhere: Tried to Embed, but didn't work - here's the Link
What is your Favorite Way to Solve a Quadratic Equation? (Couldn't save as .pptx without Admin Privileges.)
Bio
My name is Will Marbury. I am a High School Math teacher at the Friends School of
Baltimore. I am married and have a 3 year-old son (Charlie) who loves baseball, Toy Story, Spiderman, and Cars. I was born and raised in Baltimore. I graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a Bachelor's in Spanish Language and Literature. Shortly thereafter, I was hired as a math teacher at Sandy Spring Friends School, where I taught PreCalculus, Algebra 2, AP Statistics, and Multivariable Calculus for six years. My wife and I left Sandy Spring Friends School to join the Peace Corps, where we were Schools and Community Resource Volunteers. Upon returning, I worked at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School near Patterson Park before moving to Friends. I will be teaching Geometry and PreCalculus, as well as coach JV Baseball and help run the Math Club, creating opportunities to explore mathematics outside of our classrooms.
Learning Task #1 (submitted through email)
Learning Task #2
Web 2.0 - an upgrade in how websites were designed in order to allow more interaction and collaboration between web users for projects or learning. Wikis are a prime example of a Web 2.0 tool, as multiple users can add or edit them. Instead of simply using a website for information, similar to a book, websites use new technologies to allow web users to connect with one another in more ways than before.
Today's Meet: https://todaysmeet.com/CollagorativeMathTools
Learning Task #3
Glogster: http://willclass.edu.glogster.com/vertex-form/
Prezi: http://prezi.com/kmquceihll9b/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy
Learning Task #4
Top Ten Virtual Manipulatives (not written by Jamiroquai)
#10 Pick-A-Path - Working with number values
#9 Venn Diagrams - time to learn what the "u" and "n" mean in set notation.
#8 Plop-It - Aside from the name - lets you learn about resistant v. nonresistant measures of center.
#7 Pascal's Triangle - Finding patterns and Sierpinski's Triangle
#6 Quadratic Transformer - Not Michael Bay, but a great starter applet for transformations of functions - and with three different forms!
#5 Piecewise Grapher - awesome, even though it's only lines. Perfect for my Piece-wise functions and Domain?range unit in Algebra 2.
#4 Glencoe Virtual Manipulatives the GeoBoard is awesome and you can overlap multiple manipulatives to help with more complex concepts.
#3 Wheely 3 - Fun game to build problem solving skills.Math.Practice.MP1
#2 Congruence Theorems - Test the triangular Congruence theorems. Do they all work?
#1 Tangrams - Memories - I loved Tangrams, and I love the differentiation created with the virtual version.
Learning Task #5
Student Form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1X76HGqIBSV2CgZRD5-srdF95tXgiqSD9vHRbIFCHhXY/viewform
Parent Form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1pzj9WHXWP0dwK6rDOP6UXZ8LZsIwTrhN-LO-JaKuObE/viewform
Learning Task #6
MindMap: **PreCalculus** - Year Programme
Padlet: Data Analysis with Fathom Project
In the second quarter of my PreCalculus class, I have a data analysis project connected with the 12 basic functions. Students need to find/collect data and create a scatterplot of data. They need to describe the data using mathematical language, then try to find the best function to model the data. Finally, they need to reflect on their expectations and findings from the project. We have used the program Fathom, which is not so user friendly. The students complain about the program constantly and I have to trouble shoot all the time. I am still looking for another program that has the same functionality but is more user-friendly.Popplet: Finding real zeros of polynomial functions http://popplet.com/app/#/1465949
Learning Task #7
Rich Tasks:
100-Meter Dash #1: Question posed to the class: "Which performance is the most impressive? Back up your decision mathematically." I would like to see how students answer this. It could be used as a question of proportion or of percentage increase. I would also like to involve the history or cultural studies department with this task.
100-Meter Dash #2: Question posed to the class: "What is the projection 100-Meter Dash of the United States in 2016? How about in 2020?" I would have the students research the top US finishers
All three videos: "After watching all three videos, which event's winning times has been more consistent? Back up your answer mathematically." I hope that students would research the winning times and plot them. They could answer this using statistics or calculus.
Breaking the Bracket Watch the video and have the students pick a "method" for picking the winners of the NCAA basketball bracket. At the end, calculate their winning percentage and compare themselves to other million who have done it. What is their ranking and their percentile?
Polluting Noise "How long during a year do you hear an annoying noise?" Have the students choose a noise or sound that they hear on a regular basis and have them calculate how much they hear it in a year.
Top 10's "Find a Top 10 list that you find interesting. Then create your own using something from class."
Khan Academy:
Statistics: The Average Pros: I like the way that he talks about the three different measures of central tendency (also that he uses "Central Tendency"), that he gives real life applications, and begins to talk about resistant measures and outliers. Cons: I don't like that he brings up so many different ideas and touches upon a lot of things, but does not describe them thoroughly. While I like that he talks a little about outliers, but then glosses over it and says that there is no real way to determine an outlier. That's trouble in the future.
In general with statistics, I have found that the terminology that he uses to be different from the terminology that I learned and use in my classroom. This usually causes obvious problems.
LearnZillion: My first impression is that I like how the site is organized by the Common Core Standards. While it makes it more difficult for an independent school teacher to navigate, I think that this is great.
Solving Equations Pros: I like that she brings up the objective at the beginning and end, that she talks about the common mistake. Cons: I feel that this is very simplistic and I would like for her to define a solution set, and I don't know why she doesn't simply solve for x in both equations and show that they have the same solution set. Lastly, I would like for her to show how two equations may seem to have the same solutions, but one be extraneous (may be too advanced)
Working Backwards to Solve an Equation Pros: I like that he equate "inverse" with "undo". I also like the common misuderstanding, which I like to call "Crazy Canceling" (I need to stop using that terminology). I like that he talks about the translation of mathematics into words (Math is simply a language). I like that he creates a problem. Cons: I dislike his voice (I know it's shallow). Why does he distribute the coefficient and add the 4. It seems to make more sense to add 4, then divide by 3. It seems that he is taking the long way around. (Nevermind...I was still watching the video.) As I am watching more videos, I am getting more irritated by the restatement of the objective at the beginning and end. This may simply be an independent school bias.
Circle Similarity Pros: Very step-by-step Cons: Slow. I don't see the last step - that one similar triangle shows that the circles are similar.
Learning Task #8
Video #1: Function Vocabulary (Part 1) An introduction to Function Vocabulary (Screencast-o-matic)
Video #2: Fundamental Geometry Terms An Introduction to the Basic Geometry Terms (EduCreations)
<iframe width="480" height="300" src="https://www.educreations.com/lesson/embed/22988669/" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
Learning Task #9
RubiStar:
PollEveryWhere: Tried to Embed, but didn't work - here's the Link
What is your Favorite Way to Solve a Quadratic Equation? (Couldn't save as .pptx without Admin Privileges.)
TestMoz: Classifying Polynomials
Learning Task #10
Mobile Apps Project (Tried to Embed, but having trouble - here's the link)
Web 2.0 Project
Prezi on Blabberize